🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term extended to 10 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 appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.