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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.