🔗 Share this article

A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span 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 only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 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 assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to 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 never wanted to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality 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 accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.