🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread 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 told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.