🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing 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 midst of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.