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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

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

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, 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 frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.