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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.