🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan 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 behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up 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 Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your case.”

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

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the original case.