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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence 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 high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.