France's Appeal Tribunal Raises Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the first trial.