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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

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

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. 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 challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.