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A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

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

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point 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 allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.