A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to a decade.
Retrial Proceedings
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.
The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.
We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”
Case History
The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.
The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.
Evidence Presented
Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.
Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”
The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.
The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”
Pelicot's Words
The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero 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 responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”
Personal History
Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.
He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.