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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

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 initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected 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 invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married 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 wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.