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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.