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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

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

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the first trial.