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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied 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 Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, 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

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son 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 spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.