🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst 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 numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.