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A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities 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 once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.