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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

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

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.