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An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning 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 internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the original case.