French Higher Tribunal Increases Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Rapist

A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The 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 then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. 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 the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.