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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the original case.