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

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.