A man has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.
Higher Court Case
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.
“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”
Background
Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.
Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.
The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.
Evidence Presented
Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.
The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”
The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected 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 the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”
Survivor's Statement
Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”
The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
State's Argument
The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”
Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”
Biographical Details
The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave 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 married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.
