🔗 Share this article

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

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “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 comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst 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 bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.