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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings 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 engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.