French Appeal Court Increases Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

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 will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.