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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

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

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” 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 the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.