French Appeal Court Increases Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

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

The ex-husband, 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 “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.