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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware 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 trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

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

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the first trial.