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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his jail term raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

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

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.