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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told 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 key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture 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 society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.