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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance 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 the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.