France's Higher Court Uphighers Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to a decade.

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 Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the original case.