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

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised 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 initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.