France's Higher Tribunal Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial 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 bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.