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A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform 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 unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

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 spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.