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A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught 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 construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.