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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial 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 sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.