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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie 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 rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.