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A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected 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 the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up 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 Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

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 evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a evaluator that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.