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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced 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 Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.