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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied 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 the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

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

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 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.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

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

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder 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 wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the original case.