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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence 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 ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.