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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, 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 jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially 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 court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known 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 without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.