France's Appeal Tribunal Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties 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 school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the first trial.