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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in 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 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.