French Appeal Tribunal Raises Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

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

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” 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 Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.