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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” 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 harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the original case.