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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

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

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.