French Higher Tribunal Raises Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the original case.