French Higher Court Raises Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Rapist

A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, 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 frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.