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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 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.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.