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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread 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 ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, 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 extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.