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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. 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 wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.