France's Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.