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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

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

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common 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 culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s 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 principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.