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A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher 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 home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.