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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 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.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your case.”

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

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.