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A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault 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 culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. 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 allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.