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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

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

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.