French Appeal Tribunal Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, 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 the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.