French Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.