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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.