France's Appeal Tribunal Raises Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

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

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.