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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.