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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.