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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.