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A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher 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 morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 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 responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. 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 invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker 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 spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.