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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told 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 influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of 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 violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.