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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed 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 evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.