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A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated 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,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, 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.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.