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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, joined 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 the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

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

Sie said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed 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 evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.