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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed 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, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.