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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. 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 invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.