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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.