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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty 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”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed 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 did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the first trial.