France's Appeal Court Uphighers Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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 five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of many 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 challenge his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence 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 society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.