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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.