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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial 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 sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony 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 assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the first trial.