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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.