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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

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

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.