French Higher Tribunal Raises Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.