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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated 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 closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.