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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

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

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected 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 acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the first trial.