🔗 Share this article

An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.