A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to ten years.
Retrial Proceedings
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.
We trust the court will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”
Background
The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.
Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.
Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”
The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.
The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.
Defendant's Statements
The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”
Survivor's Statement
The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
State's Argument
Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your case.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”
Defendant's Background
Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.
He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.
