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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 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.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.