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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, 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 testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. 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 invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.