French Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting 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.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

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

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved 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 Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.