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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement 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 spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

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

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.