France's Appeal Court Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.