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A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed 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 difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.