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

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict 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, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, said to 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 agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.