🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.