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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.