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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced 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 spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.