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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

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

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the first trial.