French Appeal Tribunal Raises Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Rapist
An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.
Retrial Proceedings
The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced 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 bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.
We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”
Background
The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.
Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.
The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”
The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.
The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”
Victim's Response
The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Legal Commentary
Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”
The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”
Defendant's Background
The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.
He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, 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 frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.