🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

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 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence 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 culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a evaluator that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the original case.