French Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his jail term extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

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 court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.