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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 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.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.