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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes 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 residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.