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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

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

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.