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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

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

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the midst of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding spurred 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 “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the original case.