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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.