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A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child 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 defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.