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A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

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 Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.