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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence 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 culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.