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A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. 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 twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.