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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel 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 June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.