French Appeal Tribunal Increases Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom 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 spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

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

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero 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 Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the original case.