French Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 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 unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.