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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his jail term extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine 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”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”

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

Sie said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.