🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” 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 never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence 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 birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.