🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 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.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.