French Appeal Tribunal Increases Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the first trial.