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A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” 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 invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.