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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.