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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words 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 onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.