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An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, 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 repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the first trial.