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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The 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 wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.