French Higher Court Raises Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child 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 intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the original case.