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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 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.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your case.”

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

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.