French Higher Tribunal Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

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 soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the first trial.