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A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the original case.