France's Higher Tribunal Uphighers Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband 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 court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.