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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the original case.