French Higher Court Uphighers Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge 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

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the first trial.