French Appeal Tribunal Raises Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.