French Appeal Court Uphighers Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

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

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.