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An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, 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 driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan 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 key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, 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 permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.