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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.