French Appeal Tribunal Raises Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. 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 brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent 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 court psychologist that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.