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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault 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 women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

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 sedating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town 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 sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics 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 builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.