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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence 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 responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the first trial.