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An individual 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 ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking 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 country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed 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

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.