An individual has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term increased to a decade.
Retrial Proceedings
Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.
A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.
We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”
Background
The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.
Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.
The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.
The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”
The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.
The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official 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 agreed.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”
Survivor's Statement
The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”
The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
State's Argument
Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”
The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”
The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”
Personal History
The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.
He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.
