Man loses appeal against Gisèle Pelicot rape conviction | Gisèle Pelicot

A man was found guilty of raping Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged unconscious by her husband, and received an enhanced sentence of 10 years in prison.

Unemployed construction master Hüsamettin Doğan (44), who appealed his first conviction last year, was retried at the Nîmes court of appeal this week.

A jury of five men and four women seated with three judges, On Thursday, he found Dogan guilty of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019. The court heard that Dogan, a married father, had been communicating with his then-husband Dominique Pelicot in an online chat room called “without his knowledge” and that Pelicot was looking for men to come to his house to rape his wife after putting her in a coma state.

Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus, told the court: “We hope the jury will say loudly and clearly that human rights in this country are also women’s rights, that consent is personal, it is not delegated, that consent is obtained directly from the husband, not by proxy.”

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then-wife for almost a decade of their marriage and inviting dozens of men to rape her at his home in the Provence village of Mazan.

Last year, fifty more people were found guilty in a closely followed public hearing, and Doğan was the only person who objected to this conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years. Chief prosecutor Dominique Sie argued that he should be sentenced to 12 years in prison because he “absolutely refused to take any responsibility”.

The court heard that Doğan first sent sexually explicit photos to Dominique Pelicot, then drove for an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out.

Pelicot, who was brought from the cell to testify briefly at the appeal hearing, told the court that he knew that Doğan’s wife was “sedated” and that he told the men on the phone: “I am looking for someone to harass my wife after I put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became the focal point of a broader debate about rape culture in society. Dogan continued to say that he was innocent and did not rape, and argued that Gisèle Pelicot’s actions were acceptable because her husband invited her into his bedroom.

The jury at the Nîmes court of appeal was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a coma; Meanwhile, a smiling Doğan raped her several times within a period of time that the police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said he was in danger of death from suffocation. The state attorney’s office said there was no doubt the woman was unconscious and did not consent.

Doğan told the court that the videos were just “sex scenes” and denied that there was rape. He said what he did was not rape but a “sexual act”. “I have never raped,” he said in court. Gisèle said that Pelicot’s husband had invited her to the house and so it was okay. He said he was guided by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Doğan said in court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

When asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Doğan said, “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded by the crowd that gathered to support her every day as she left the court, said to Doğan in court: “You did not understand. When will you understand that you raped me? It is a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after waiving her right to anonymity at last year’s hearing, saying: “Shame must change sides.”

Applying to Gisèle Pelicot in court, Sie said that Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not changed sides yet. Society is perhaps in this process, perhaps driven by the collective awareness brought about by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Doğan’s claims of innocence showed that rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. “We must now transform rape culture into consent culture,” he said.

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to accept it, what you are supporting is not just one woman, but an entire disgusting social system.”

Doğan was born in Türkiye and came to France when he was five, where his father worked as a doorman. The court heard that his father was violent and that Doğan started smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17, Doğan was stopped by the police for selling drugs and his father kicked him out of the house. In his early 20s, he was in prison for drug dealing and worked as a builder, but experienced homelessness from time to time.

He was married and had a son with Down syndrome, for whom he was the primary caregiver because his wife worked in a school cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he was having regular sexual relations outside of their marriage. His defense said it was his way of coping with his stressful life. Doğan told the palace psychologist that he wanted paid sex once a year on his birthday. His lawyers told the court his arthritis was triggered by the stress of the first hearing.