🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed 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 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: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties 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 institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.