French Higher Court Raises Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator

A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, 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 panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.