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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your situation.”

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

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.