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A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

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

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.