French Appeal Court Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

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

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to 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 injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated 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 waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of 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 Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.