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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

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

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.