France's Appeal Court Increases Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” 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 wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy 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: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the process of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

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

Sie said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the original case.