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A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his jail term raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the original case.