A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.
Retrial Proceedings
The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.
We expect the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”
Case History
Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.
Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.
The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects 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 the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.
The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”
The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.
The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.
Dogan's Claims
Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”
Victim's Response
Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Prosecutor's Remarks
The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your case.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”
The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid 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 concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.
He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.
