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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault 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 high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. 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 deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.