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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. 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 challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.