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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, 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 repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the first trial.