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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared 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 manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.