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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial 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 raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

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

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.