A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.
Appeal Trial
The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.
A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.
The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.
We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”
Background
Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.
Courtroom Details
Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.
The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”
The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.
The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.
Defendant's Statements
The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”
Pelicot's Words
The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
State's Argument
Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”
The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”
Personal History
Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.
He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.
