The French state prosecutor has called for the jail term of an unemployed builder to be increased after he contested his conviction for raping Gisèle Pelicot after she had been drugged unconscious by her husband.
Dominique Sie, the lead state prosecutor, told the court of appeal in Nîmes that Husamettin Dogan’s claims of innocence were an example of how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”.
Sie said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
Dogan, 44, a married father, was sentenced to nine years in prison last year for raping Pelicot in her bed when she was in a comatose state in June 2019. He is the only one of 51 men found guilty in a high-profile trial last year to have appealed against his conviction and is undergoing a retrial in southern France.
Sie recommended the jury should find Dogan guilty and increase his sentence to 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.
Gisèle Pelicot’s ex-husband, Dominique, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, admitted to crushing sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication into his then wife’s food and inviting dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious in their bedroom in Mazan, Provence, between 2011 and 2020. Pelicot told the appeal trial he sought men online in a chatroom entitled “Without her knowledge” and then told them by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”
The state prosecutor said video evidence showed Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state while Dogan committed rape. Dogan had told the court he did not commit rape, just “sexual acts”. He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into her bedroom and said it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot.
Sie said Dogan’s intransigent stance was a clear illustration of persistent rape culture and male domination.
Sie said to Dogan in his final comments: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year, saying: “Shame must change sides.”
Sie turned to Gisèle Pelicot in court and said the fact that Dogan had appealed against his conviction and refused to take responsibility showed that “shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your case.”
The verdict is expected on Thursday afternoon.
