Evidence from the first trial was shown again, including videos of the rapes in which an unconscious Gisèle could be heard snoring and having no reaction despite the abuse she was subjected to.
Nevertheless, Dogan again denied any intention to rape her even though he acknowledged she was clearly a victim of her husband.
“I performed a sexual act, I never raped anyone,” he said. “For me, rape means forcing someone, tying them up, I don’t know… I am a victim.”
Gisèle Pelicot told the court this week “I am the only victim”, denying she had ever given her consent.
In an attempt to shift the blame on to Dominique Pelicot, Dogan also said that while at one point he had “suspicions” that something about the situation was not quite right, Pelicot had put him at ease. “This guy is a manipulator,” he said.
Pelicot – who was present in court as a witness – denied he had ever pretended his wife would be anything but unconscious.
All the men he recruited on chatrooms “were told she would be drugged”, Pelicot said, adding he had explicitly told Dogan he was looking for “someone to abuse my sleeping wife without her knowledge”.
