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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.