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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.