France's Appeal Tribunal Raises Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 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 five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

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 midst of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the original case.