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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.