🔗 Share this article

An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

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

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.