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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. 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 allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.