🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her 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 permission is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.