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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his jail term extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated 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 manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.