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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” 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,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the original case.