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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. 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 invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.