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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else 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 bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.