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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

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.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child 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 wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.