French Higher Court Raises Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the original case.