🔗 Share this article

A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the original case.