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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

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 sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread 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 the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.