🔗 Share this article

An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.