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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted 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 the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, 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 danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious 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: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.