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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. 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 wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.