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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told 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 sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” 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 had no desire to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.