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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

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

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

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

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.