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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert 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 permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told 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 Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence 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 ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.