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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “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 hope the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence 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 abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.