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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed 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 intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the original case.