France's Appeal Court Increases Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Rapist

A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.