France's Appeal Court Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time 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 married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the original case.