French Appeal Tribunal Increases Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Rapist
A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to a decade.
Appeal Trial
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent 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 home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.
We expect the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”
Background
The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.
Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.
The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.
Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”
The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.
The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”
Survivor's Statement
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
State's Argument
Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your situation.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”
The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”
Defendant's Background
Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.
He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.
