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An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.