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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son 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 repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.