French Higher Tribunal Uphighers Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator
A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to a decade.
Appeal Trial
Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.
We trust the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”
Case History
The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.
Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.
The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.
Testimony and Proof
Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.
The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”
The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.
The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.
Accused's Testimony
The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”
Pelicot's Words
The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”
The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
Legal Commentary
Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the midst of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”
Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”
Biographical Details
Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.
He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.
