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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.