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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

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

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what police said 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 unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. 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 residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

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

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.