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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired 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

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.