🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.