🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes 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 bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. 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 permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.