France's Higher Court Increases Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds 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 assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread 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.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the original case.