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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan 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 spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.