French Appeal Tribunal Raises Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Rapist

An individual has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times 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 state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued 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.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.