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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting 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 culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.