A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.
Higher Court Case
Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.
A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.
We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”
Case History
The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence 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 sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.
Testimony and Proof
Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.
The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”
The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.
Accused's Testimony
The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”
Pelicot's Words
The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”
Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
State's Argument
The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”
The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”
Defendant's Background
Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.
He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.
