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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was first sentenced 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 “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture 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 society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.