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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate 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 assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated 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 manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.