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A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating 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 presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

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

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five 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 he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.