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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate 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 invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.