🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with 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 assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.