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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread 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.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.