France's Appeal Tribunal Increases Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men 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 widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

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

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant 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 evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.