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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

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

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.