France's Appeal Court Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.