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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question 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 disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.