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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator 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 fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan 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? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.