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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

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

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.