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An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.