France's Appeal Tribunal Raises Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

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

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the original case.