🔗 Share this article

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

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes 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 residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated 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 consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.