A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.
Higher Court Case
Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.
We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”
Context
The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.
The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.
Evidence Presented
Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.
The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”
The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.
Defendant's Statements
The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”
Victim's Response
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”
The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
State's Argument
Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”
The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”
Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”
Personal History
Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.
He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.
