🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking 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 primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.