🔗 Share this article

A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction 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 sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated 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 a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.