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A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the first trial.