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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The 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 disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.