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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.