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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years 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 the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

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

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

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: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.