French Higher Court Uphighers Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Rapist

A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals 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.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

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

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.