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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, 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 Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the first trial.