French Appeal Court Uphighers Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Rapist

A man has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

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

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.