France's Appeal Tribunal Raises Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? 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, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the original case.