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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse 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 say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. 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 invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.