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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes 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 allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration 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 given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

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

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the original case.