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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, 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, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.