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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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 jury 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 early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

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

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The 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 consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from 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 parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.