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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

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.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the first trial.