France's Higher Tribunal Raises Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile 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 enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. 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 footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.