France's Appeal Tribunal Raises Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.