An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.
Retrial Proceedings
Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.
We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”
Context
Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.
Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The lead state 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 graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.
Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”
The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.
The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”
Pelicot's Words
Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Legal Commentary
The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”
Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”
Defendant's Background
The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.
He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.
