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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

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

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected 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 Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.