French Appeal Tribunal Uphighers Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom 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 knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement 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 want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced 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 never wanted to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the first trial.