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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

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

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

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.