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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial 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 sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.