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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

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

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused 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 did not intend to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the midst of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

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 testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.