🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

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

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.