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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the first trial.