France's Higher Court Increases Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.