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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence 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 society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.