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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid societal structure 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 building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.