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An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town 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 the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.