🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating 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 span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence 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 Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.