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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” 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 attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded 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 woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing 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 Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.