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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.