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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men 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 convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.