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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

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 evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced 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 educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.