French Higher Court Raises Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing 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 son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.