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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved 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 using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.