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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.