An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.
Retrial Proceedings
Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.
A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.
The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.
We trust the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”
Context
The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.
Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.
The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.
Testimony and Proof
The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.
The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”
The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.
The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.
Accused's Testimony
Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”
Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”
Pelicot's Words
The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”
Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”
State's Argument
The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your situation.”
The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent 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 said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”
Defendant's Background
The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police 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 construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.
He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.
