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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing 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 Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

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

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.