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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the first trial.