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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. 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 invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.