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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape 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 suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.