A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.
Retrial Proceedings
Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.
We expect the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”
Context
The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.
Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.
The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.
Evidence Presented
The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.
The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”
The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.
Defendant's Statements
The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”
Pelicot's Words
The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Prosecutor's Remarks
The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”
Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”
Personal History
Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.
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 spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.
