A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to a decade.
Appeal Trial
Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.
“We hope the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”
Background
The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.
Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.
The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.
Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”
The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.
The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.
Accused's Testimony
The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”
Victim's Response
The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Prosecutor's Remarks
Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”
Defendant's Background
The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.
He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.
