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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested 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, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.