French Higher Court Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your case.”

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

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.