French Higher Court Increases Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality 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 refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, 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 repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.