An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.
Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.
“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”
The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.
Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.
Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.
Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”
The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.
The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.
The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”
The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”
Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”
Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.
He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.
