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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe 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 absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone 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 court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.