A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.
Appeal Trial
The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing 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 raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.
The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.
We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”
Case History
The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.
Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.
The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.
Evidence Presented
Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.
Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”
The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.
Defendant's Statements
The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”
Pelicot's Words
The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”
The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished 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 failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”
Biographical Details
The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.
He was married and had a child with special needs, 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 repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the first trial.
