French Appeal Tribunal Raises Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom 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, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.