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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher 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 home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married 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 wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities 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 sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.