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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial 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 sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told 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 central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the first trial.