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A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed 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 house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have 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: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.