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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 raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, addressed 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. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.