An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his prison sentence raised to 10 years.
Retrial Proceedings
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.
The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.
“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”
Case History
The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence 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 the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.
The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.
Evidence Presented
Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.
The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”
The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.
The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.
Defendant's Statements
The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”
Pelicot's Words
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”
The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
Legal Commentary
The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”
Defendant's Background
The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.
He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.
