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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.