France's Higher Tribunal Uphighers Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Rapist

An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst 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 dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.