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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed 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 violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the first trial.