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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing 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 raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.