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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

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

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your case.”

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

Sie told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, 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 extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the original case.