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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in 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 father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.