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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

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

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced 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 educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.