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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced 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 educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.