French Higher Tribunal Raises Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

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 originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.