🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood 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 main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.