French Appeal Tribunal Raises Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said 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 wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan 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 father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer 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 institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the original case.