France's Higher Tribunal Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the original case.