French Appeal Tribunal Increases Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? 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: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

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

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in 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 parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave 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 homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.