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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

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

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.