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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the original case.