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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.