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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, 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 acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “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 had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.