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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the original case.