🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals 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 convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the original case.