A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term extended to a decade.
Retrial Proceedings
The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.
“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”
Background
The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.
Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.
Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”
The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.
The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied 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 invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”
Pelicot's Words
The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”
The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
State's Argument
Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”
Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are endorsing.”
Personal History
The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.
He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.
