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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten 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 initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.