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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded 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

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the first trial.