An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.
Retrial Proceedings
The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.
A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.
“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”
Background
The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.
Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.
The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”
The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.
The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.
Defendant's Statements
Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”
Victim's Response
Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”
Prosecutor's Remarks
The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”
Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”
Defendant's Background
The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s 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 spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.
