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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

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

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing 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 legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.