🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.