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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated 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 manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He served 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 son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.