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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

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 wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to 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 rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. 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 invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.