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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported 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 assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

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

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.