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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to 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, possibly driven by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.