🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings 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 the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.