French Higher Court Increases Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court 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 by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.