🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

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

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the first trial.