French Higher Court Uphighers Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, 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 “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your case.”

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

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.