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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’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,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

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 testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.