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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 received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the first trial.