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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing 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 the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.