🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.