🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse 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 each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.