French Appeal Court Increases Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” 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 wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt 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 society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.