A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.
Retrial Proceedings
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.
“We hope the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”
Background
Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.
Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.
The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.
Courtroom Details
Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.
The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”
The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.
The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.
Accused's Testimony
The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”
Survivor's Statement
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
State's Argument
Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your situation.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”
Defendant's Background
Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.
He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.
