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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

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

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the original case.