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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “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, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, 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 extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the first trial.