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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “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, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed 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 difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.