France's Appeal Court Uphighers Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the midst of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

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

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.