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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, 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 panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

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

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

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

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the original case.