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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence 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 culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.