France's Higher Tribunal Increases Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.