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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, 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 extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.