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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 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.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

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

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.