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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

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

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. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.