French Higher Court Raises Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, 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 Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told 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 put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. 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 acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

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

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the original case.