A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.
Higher Court Case
Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.
A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.
“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”
Background
Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.
Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.
Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”
The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.
Defendant's Statements
The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. 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 allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”
Survivor's Statement
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”
The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Legal Commentary
Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”
Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”
Personal History
The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.
He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.
