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A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

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

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated 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, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

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

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.