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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time 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 guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.