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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent 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 raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.