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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his jail term increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings 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 the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.