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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

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

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.