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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

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

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim 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 societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.