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

Appeal Trial

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

A panel 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 June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse 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.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.