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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” 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 trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the first trial.