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A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the midst of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.