A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.
Appeal Trial
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.
The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.
“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”
Context
The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.
Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.
Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”
The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.
Dogan's Claims
Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued 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 woman.”
Victim's Response
Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
Legal Commentary
Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”
Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”
Biographical Details
The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.
He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the first trial.
