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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.