French Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common 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 said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.