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A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. 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 house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

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

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.