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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the original case.