🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his jail term increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.