France's Higher Court Uphighers Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant

A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie 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: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

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

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s 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 primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the first trial.