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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised 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 accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.