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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated 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 child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.