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A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son 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 sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.