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An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty 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 the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance 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 failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance 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 ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.