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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 was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended 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 traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.