A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.
Higher Court Case
Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.
A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.
The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.
We expect the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”
Case History
The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially 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 “completely denies to take any responsibility”.
Evidence Presented
The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.
The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”
The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.
The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”
Survivor's Statement
The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Legal Commentary
The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”
Biographical Details
Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.
He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the original case.
