🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” 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 house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common 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 said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.