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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his jail term increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? 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.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone 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 institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.