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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.