French Higher Court Increases Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Assailant

A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

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 testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.