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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He served time 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 son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the first trial.