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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating 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 presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. 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 allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.