France's Appeal Court Uphighers Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served 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 son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.