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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

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

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault 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 death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, 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 convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived 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 the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.