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A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.