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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread 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.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.