French Higher Court Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant
An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.
Retrial Proceedings
Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.
The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.
We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”
Context
The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.
Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.
The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.
Testimony and Proof
Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.
The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”
The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.
Dogan's Claims
The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”
Pelicot's Words
The victim, who was cheered 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 is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Legal Commentary
Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”
Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”
Biographical Details
The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.
He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.