An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years.
Appeal Trial
Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.
A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.
We expect the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”
Context
Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.
The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.
Testimony and Proof
Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.
Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”
The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.
The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.
Accused's Testimony
The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”
Pelicot's Words
The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”
The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
Prosecutor's Remarks
The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”
Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”
Personal History
Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.
He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.
