🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.