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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.