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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

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

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.