France's Appeal Tribunal Increases Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.