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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

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

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.