French Higher Court Raises Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to 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 abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

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

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.