France's Higher Tribunal Uphighers Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed 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 did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone 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 testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.