A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to ten years.
Appeal Trial
Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.
The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.
We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”
Context
Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.
Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.
Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”
The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.
The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.
Defendant's Statements
Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” 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 Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”
Victim's Response
The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
Prosecutor's Remarks
Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”
The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”
Biographical Details
Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.
He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.
