France's Appeal Court Raises Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

An individual has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The 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.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.