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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape 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 suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.