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

A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village 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 testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.