🔗 Share this article

A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.