French Appeal Tribunal Increases Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent 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 the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero 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 unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, 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 frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.