A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.
Appeal Trial
The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.
“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”
Context
The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade 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 verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.
The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.
Evidence Presented
The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.
The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”
The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.
The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.
Defendant's Statements
The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”
Survivor's Statement
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
Prosecutor's Remarks
Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”
Biographical Details
Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.
He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.
