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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined 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 testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” 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 trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the original case.