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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds 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 unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.