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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault 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 culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.