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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “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.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.