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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.