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A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

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

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the first trial.