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A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from 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 “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.