🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

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

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.