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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty 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 Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated 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 key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’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 unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.