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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the first trial.