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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

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.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the original case.