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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.