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An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel 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 early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.