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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.