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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. 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 home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.