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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

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

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the first trial.