France's Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Rapist

A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected 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 home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.