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An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.