An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his jail term extended to ten years.
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.
A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.
We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”
The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.
Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.
The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.
Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.
The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”
The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.
The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.
The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”
Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.
He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.
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