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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the process of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the original case.