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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in 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 marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

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

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, 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 rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced 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 school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.