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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.