An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term raised to 10 years.
Higher Court Case
Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.
A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.
“We hope the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”
Background
The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.
Evidence Presented
The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.
The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”
The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.
The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.
Defendant's Statements
Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”
Pelicot's Words
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
Legal Commentary
The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure 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 “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”
The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”
Defendant's Background
Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.
He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.
