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

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, 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 unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s 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 primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the original case.