An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to a decade.
Retrial Proceedings
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 nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.
The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.
We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”
Case History
The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.
Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.
The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.
Courtroom Details
The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.
The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”
The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.
Dogan's Claims
Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”
Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”
Pelicot's Words
The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
State's Argument
The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”
The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”
Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”
Defendant's Background
Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone 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 wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.
