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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan 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 family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence 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

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

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

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.