France's Appeal Court Uphighers Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant
A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to a decade.
Retrial Proceedings
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial 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 raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.
We expect the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”
Case History
The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.
The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.
Evidence Presented
Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.
Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”
The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.
The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning 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 death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.
Dogan's Claims
Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”
Victim's Response
The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”
The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
State's Argument
Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your case.”
The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”
Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”
Biographical Details
Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.
He was wed and had a child with special needs, 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 repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the original case.
