🔗 Share this article

A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan 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 Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.