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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, 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 influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the first trial.