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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.