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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told 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 broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.