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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.