An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to ten years.
Appeal Trial
Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.
The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.
“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”
Background
Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.
Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.
Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”
The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.
Defendant's Statements
Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”
Survivor's Statement
Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”
The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Prosecutor's Remarks
Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”
The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”
Personal History
Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.
He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the original case.
