France's Higher Court Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, 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 notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child 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 frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the original case.