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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative 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 sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the first trial.