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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood 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 consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.