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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, 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 frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.