🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

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

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the first trial.