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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the original case.