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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.