A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to ten years.
Retrial Proceedings
Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.
The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.
We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”
Context
Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.
Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.
Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”
The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.
The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.
Dogan's Claims
Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”
Pelicot's Words
The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
Legal Commentary
The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”
The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt 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 rape culture to a society based on agreement.”
The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”
Biographical Details
The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.
He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the original case.
