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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.