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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? 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: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.