France's Higher Tribunal Raises Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.