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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.