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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.