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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

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

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.