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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

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

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties 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 principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.