France's Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, 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 spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.