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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.