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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.