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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused 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 individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”

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

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

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 testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.