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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.