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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence 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 abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed 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 the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan 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 hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.