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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.