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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the original case.