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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

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

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, 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 sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.