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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.