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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault 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 the appellant was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.