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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared 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 deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

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 frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.