France's Higher Tribunal Uphighers Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, 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 assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.