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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 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 panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first 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 going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. 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 permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.