A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.
Retrial Proceedings
Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.
“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”
Context
Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.
Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.
The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.
Courtroom Details
The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.
Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”
The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.
Dogan's Claims
The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”
Victim's Response
Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
State's Argument
Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”
Sie said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”
Defendant's Background
The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.
He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.
