An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his jail term extended to ten years.
Appeal Trial
Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.
The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.
“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”
Case History
Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.
Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.
Courtroom Details
Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.
Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”
The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.
Dogan's Claims
The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”
Victim's Response
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”
The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
Legal Commentary
The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”
Sie told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”
Personal History
The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.
He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.
