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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.