French Appeal Court Raises Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.