A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.
Retrial Proceedings
Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.
“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”
Background
Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.
Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.
The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.
Courtroom Details
Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.
The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”
The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.
The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.
Defendant's Statements
Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”
Pelicot's Words
The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
State's Argument
Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”
Personal History
Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.
He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.
