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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the first trial.