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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’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 rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, 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 frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.