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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness 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 “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the first trial.