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

A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy 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 unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture 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 society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.