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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.