French Appeal Court Increases Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied 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 permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.