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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.