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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning 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, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.