France's Higher Court Uphighers Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator

A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, 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 assault 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 Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived 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 unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.