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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, 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 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.