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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence 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 culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent 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 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the first trial.