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A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the original case.