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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

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

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.