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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty 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 Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.