French Higher Tribunal Uphighers Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting 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 marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the course of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the original case.