🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, 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 wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He served time 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 child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.