🔗 Share this article

A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread 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 the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.