🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.