🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, 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.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.