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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent 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 being unhoused.

He was wed 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 repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.