French Higher Tribunal Uphighers Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

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

We trust the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to 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 hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child 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 extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.