🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.