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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent 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: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.