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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, 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 acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.