France's Higher Tribunal Raises Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission 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 handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.