An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.
Appeal Trial
Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.
We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”
Case History
The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.
The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.
Evidence Presented
Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.
The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”
The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.
The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.
Dogan's Claims
The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”
Victim's Response
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Legal Commentary
Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your case.”
Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”
The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”
Defendant's Background
The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.
He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.
