France's Appeal Tribunal Raises Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse 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 say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to the defendant 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? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. 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 sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.