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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the original case.