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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said 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 unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

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

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.