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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.