French Higher Court Raises Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist

An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating 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 span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

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 building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.