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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, 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 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the original case.