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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

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 initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms 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 actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.