A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.
Appeal Trial
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested 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, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.
We expect the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”
Context
Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.
Testimony and Proof
Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.
The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”
The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed 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 injure that individual.”
Survivor's Statement
The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Legal Commentary
Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”
Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”
Biographical Details
The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.
He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, 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 repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.
