French Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.