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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married 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 spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.