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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

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 wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.