French Higher Court Raises Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture 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 society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.