🔗 Share this article

A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

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

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.