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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

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

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the original case.