France's Higher Tribunal Raises Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Rapist

An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.