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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the midst of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the original case.