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A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” 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 allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.