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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

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

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.