French Appeal Court Raises Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.