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An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the first trial.