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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced 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 spouse 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 difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.