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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.