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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 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 appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.