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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. 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 invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.