French Appeal Court Increases Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim'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 continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 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 early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.