French Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator
An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.
Appeal Trial
The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.
We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”
Background
Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.
Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.
Courtroom Details
Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.
Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”
The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.
The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”
Survivor's Statement
Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”
The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
Legal Commentary
The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your case.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”
The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”
Personal History
Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.
He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.