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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced 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 driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

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

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker 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 school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.