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A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial 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 residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.