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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator 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.