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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot 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 societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

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

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.