A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.
Retrial Proceedings
The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.
The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.
We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”
Background
The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.
The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.
Courtroom Details
The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.
Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”
The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.
The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.
Defendant's Statements
The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”
Victim's Response
Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
Legal Commentary
Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”
Defendant's Background
The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.
He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the original case.