🔗 Share this article

A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the original case.