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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.