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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the first trial.