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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.