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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, 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 Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.