A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to ten years.
Appeal Trial
The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.
The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.
“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”
Context
The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.
Evidence Presented
The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.
The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”
The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.
The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.
Dogan's Claims
Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”
Pelicot's Words
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
State's Argument
Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”
The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”
Personal History
The accused 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 building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.
He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the first trial.
