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

An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected 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 Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I 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, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.