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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.