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A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

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

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. 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 sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.