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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard 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 evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced 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 institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.