France's Appeal Tribunal Increases Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.