French Higher Tribunal Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the original case.