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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The 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 then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan 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 never wanted to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent 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.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the first trial.