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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.