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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged 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, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.