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A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. 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 brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of 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 father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.