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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator 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 fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

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

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

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 testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.