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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer 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 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 strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.