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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” 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 reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, 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 repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.