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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, 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 reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.